3. Deserving of Excellence
Vermaelen has been a fantastic servant of Arsenal Football Club, and it would be nice to be able to support him once he leaves the Emirates. Although I’m sure every Gooner will wish him all the best no matter where he ends up, we would be doing so with gritted teeth if he ended up joining a Premier League rival. It’d be pretty hard to applaud him if he was sliding into tackles against Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud.
If he was to join Barcelona, he’d be able to leave the club with the every Gooner’s blessing. It’d be great to be able to watch our ex-captain play in La Liga, safe in the knowledge he wouldn’t be harming our title chances or strengthening a domestic rival.
Fan’s preference aside, it would be nice for Vermaelen to go to a club he deserves. Although Manchester United were undoubtedly a step up from Arsenal during the later part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, the same can’t be said now they’ve dropped out of the Champions League. Thomas deserves to be playing against the top clubs in European football, and he wouldn’t get that at United.
Where would you like to see Vermaelen end up? Let us know in the comments.